Kafue Large Carnivore Conservation Project

The Greater Kafue Ecosystem (GKE) is home to Zambia’s largest wild dog and cheetah populations, the second-largest lion and leopard populations, as well as the most diverse antelope populations in the region. It is therefore essential that key data and conservation actions are provided for previously undescribed and threatened large carnivore species and their prey.

This includes studying the main threats to both carnivores and herbivores in the GKE, as well as ensuring the ongoing sustainability of conservation efforts through education and capacity building.

Country: Kafue National Park, Zambia
Partner Organisations: Zambia Wildlife Authority, National Geographic, WWF, Panthera, Treetops School, The Nature Conservancy and Game Rangers International.

Despite its massive size and connectivity to the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area, the GKE is seriously threatened by an array of human activities. These include poaching, human encroachment in the form of agriculture and charcoal, and poorly-regulated trophy hunting.

To address key components of the Regional and National Conservation Action Plans for wild dog, cheetah and lion, the Zambian Carnivore Programme (ZCP) initiated long-term carnivore research in 2011 on wild dog and cheetah. Later, this work was expanded to the Kafue Lion Project’s research in 2014, as well as a number of research projects on poaching, human encroachment and other landscape-level work in collaboration with Panthera’s Cheetah Programme.

Since ZCP’s inception, it has employed the only field-based veterinary presence in the GKE, primarily led by Dr Wigganson Matandiko (former ZAWA veterinary head and currently a ZCP PhD student), before training and employing Dr Kambwiri Banda.

Collectively, these efforts have resulted in the de-snaring of dozens of large carnivores, facilitated (particularly in the case of wild dogs) by ongoing research on radio-collared groups.

In addition, the need for skilled and knowledgeable Zambian wildlife professionals to guide the country’s conservation management has never been greater, and ZCP has led the way by training, educating and employing all of the country’s large carnivore specialists in collaboration with the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA). In concert, this work provides some of the only science-based guidance and conservation for the GKE.

The main objectives for this project are:

• Provide key data on large carnivore populations and their prey, as well as threats to them.
• Address key threats to large carnivores, their prey and habitat.
• Ensure the sustainability of conservation efforts through education and capacity building.

Data is collected through intensive studies of individuals. Methods include mark-resight studies, ground and aerial telemetry, hunt follows, gathering faecal, tissue, blood and hair samples from immobilised animals and carcasses, distance sampling methods for line transect herbivore studies, and mark-resight and occupancy-modelling for camera trapping studies.

Key threats are being established through darting and the treatment of snared large carnivores and herbivores. Other methods include remote sensing and “ground-truthing” of encroachment areas in the GMAs and parks, the study of bushmeat drivers, trends and impacts, surveys of herbivores and carnivores across protected areas gradients, as well as working with policy makers and stakeholders to change conservation models and policy directions if required.

Special presentations and programmes will be conducted for students from Treetops School, in order to better educate surrounding communities on conservation, while the project will continue to employ students and graduates from Copperbelt University, University of Zambia and Mulungushi University in its Conservation Biologist Training Programme. It will also continue to support training and the advanced education of ZAWA scouts, wildlife veterinary students and ZAWA vets and support the graduate research of Zambian students.

November 2017
Over the past three months, ZCP Kafue has logged over 200 person days of fieldwork on all lions, cheetah, and wild dogs across our intensive study area, and continued our camera-trap based study of leopard density and survival with the deployment of cameras in the northern part of the park. With the deployment of satellite tracking collars at the end of last season and throughout this season, our research team has been able to monitor individuals continuously and more consistently, allowing not only the collection of key data on carnivore dynamics and the threats facing them, but also the mitigation of snaring by-catch impacts on these species through constant monitoring and veterinary intervention when needed (see below). We currently have four satellite collars deployed on cheetahs, four on wild dogs, and seven on lions.

Alongside our research efforts these past three months, we have also continued our conservation intervention and de-snaring efforts work alongside our team vet, Dr. Kambwiri Banda. We recently de-snared three lions and one hyena, all three with wire snares tightly cinched around lower parts of their limbs. Unfortunately, we continue to see the drastic negative impacts of wire snare poaching, linked to the commercial illegal bushmeat trade, across the Kafue system. We will continue to respond to snared animals and intensively monitors prides and packs in high snare risk areas.

Led by Kafue’s education coordinator, Lameck Sakala, our team has successfully implemented a Conservation Club Programme at Chunga primary school, located at the Department of National Park Headquarters in the central part of the park. The team also continues to give environmental education presentations to the multiple student groups coming to Treetops Educational Facility.

We invited Dr. Nabiwa and Dr. Phiri, newly instated wildlife veterinarians for the Department of National Parks and Wildlife, to join our field teams and assist in wildlife immobilisations alongside Dr. Banda. They were able to assist in multiple wildlife handlings, and we are hoping to continue our close working relationship and present more training opportunities in the coming year to improve Kafue’s capacity to mitigate snaring by-catch mortalities in wildlife. We have also continued our support for Mr. Charles Kalatambala, a wildlife police officer with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife, to further pursue his studies in wildlife management and conservation at LIUTEBM University in Lusaka.

June 2017
The Zambian Carnivore Programme (ZCP) continued its long-term conservation work in the Greater Kafue Ecosystem (GKE) in 2016. The GKE is home to the country’s largest cheetah and wild dog population and second-largest lion and leopard population – in addition to being a very substantial portion of the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area, which connects five countries and their wildlife populations in the region.

Three components were worked on, namely:
1. Providing key data on large carnivore populations and their prey, as well as threats to them
2. Addressing key threats to large carnivores, their prey and habitat
3. Ensuring sustainability of conservation efforts through education and capacity building

Intensive research of cheetah, wild dog and lion populations was carried out, as well as leopard and herbivore surveys, while collecting an array of data on the factors affecting their distribution and abundance.

Dr Kambwiri Banda, ZCP’s full-time field-based wildlife veterinarian and researcher, continued to play a critical role in anti-snaring work by darting and treating snared wild dogs, lions and hyaena during the season in addition to deploying radio-collars on carnivore groups. The combination of anti-snaring work and intensive monitoring of carnivores through ground and aerial tracking continues to grow in importance by providing a means to regularly locate, monitor and treat snared carnivores across a vast landscape.

Educational programmes in collaboration with Tree Tops Educational Centre continued to expand through the work of former ZCP Conservation Club programme graduate, Lameck Sakala, and the ZCP continued to run its Conservation Biologist Training Programme for aspiring Zambian wildlife professionals. The Kafue Project’s Dr Wigganson Matandiko – ZCP’s first PhD student – received his degree in May following his research on human and ecological factors affecting density, distribution and group size for large herbivores in Kafue National Park.

Annual Report, February 2016

During the latter half of the dry season, work continued on the three components funded by the Wilderness Trust, namely:
1. Providing key data on large carnivore populations and their prey, as well as threats to them
2. Addressing key threats to large carnivores, their prey and habitat
3. Ensuring sustainability of conservation efforts through education and capacity building

Populations of lion, wild dog and cheetah were intensively researched, and camera surveys of leopard and their prey continued. Together with NGO Panthera’s cheetah programme, the project continued to build on the known number of cheetah and wild dog in the Greater Kafue ecosystem and the factors affecting them. Aerial support was critical for this work.

Snaring likely increased in 2015, and herbivore analyses demonstrated probable impacts of bushmeat poaching and associated human encroachment. Analyses of human encroachment throughout the Zambian KAZA system were completed for conservation planning. The project continued with weekly programmes for students visiting TreeTops Educational Centre and employed a former Conservation Club student from ZCP’s secondary school programmes who underwent its intensive Conservation Biologist Training Programme.

Zambian Ph.D. student, Dr Wigganson Matandiko, continued analyses on the environmental, biological and human factors affecting ungulate distribution and abundance. Dr Kambwiri Banda excelled as a local wildlife vet, darting an array of carnivores and receiving training on large herbivores, and special training on snared elephants.

September-December 2015

During the latter half of the 2015 dry season the Zambian Carnivore Programme (ZCP) continued work on the three components of its Wilderness Trust funding, namely:
1. To provide key data on large carnivore populations and their prey, as well as their threats
2. To address key threats to large carnivores, their prey and habitat
3. To ensure the sustainability of its conservation efforts through education and capacity-building

Results
1. The ZCP intensively monitored nine lion prides and seven coalitions (totalling 64 lions in Northern Kafue National Park). Wild dog continued to exhibit different dynamics in 2015 with the resident packs largely disbanded following snaring incidents in late 2014 and early 2015. New packs formed, several of which were far from any road and required aerial support and extensive trips into roadless areas to locate them and confirm they were snare-free. Aerial support was critical for all species given that the various groups ranged over sometimes thousands of square kilometres and WT funding was critical in providing multiple flights.

Intensive predator-prey studies continued, with a focus on puku and impala and we fitted a male cheetah with our first GPS collar as part of our cheetah work. Together with Panthera’s cheetah programme we continued to build on the known number of cheetah in the Greater Kafue ecosystem and the factors affecting them. We continued camera trapping surveys in Northern Kafue NP focusing on leopards and their prey.

2. Of concern this year was the discovery of three dead lion in the Busanga Plains, including one with skull and paws removed. It is thought that they were snaring by-catch but we are collaboratively investigating the potential for a lion bone trade in the region. In addition we attended a joint meeting with Wilderness Safaris, ZAWA, GRI and other operators to address lion declines in the Busanga. ZCP has committed to upgrading the communications system in northern Kafue to improve anti-poaching and is currently sourcing funds for repeaters and has obtained HF radios and chargers to be provided to ZAWA patrols in 2016. Detections of snared carnivores declined in late 2016, though it is unlikely snaring declined; analyses of three years of herbivore distribution and abundance demonstrated a noticeable human impact from the park boundaries likely due to bushmeat poaching and associated human encroachment. We completed our analyses of human encroachment throughout the Zambian KAZA system and this will be utilised in conservation planning. We also attended a week-long conference in Hwange National Park on building a KAZA Carnivore Coalition for protection of the KAZA landscape; rehabilitating Kafue National Park and the KAZA corridors to the south were identified as priority actions for Zambian KAZA and funding is currently being sought.

3. We continued to provide weekly programmes to students visiting TreeTops Educational Center during the season, describing our work and the conservation issues facing Kafue and Zambia. We also employed a former Conservation Club student from ZCP’s secondary school programmes who underwent our intensive Conservation Biologist Training Programme to become eligible: Lameck Sakala began work as a full-term researcher on the Kafue team in late 2015. Zambian PhD student Dr Wigganson Matandiko successfully completed his comprehensive exams at Montana State University and is currently finalising his analyses on the environmental, biological and human factors affecting ungulate distribution and abundance in Northern Kafue. Dr Kambwiri Banda continued to excel as our Zambian wildlife vet, darting an array of carnivores and receiving training from ZCP and collaborating staff on all species as well as large herbivores; he also received special training on elephants in late 2015 from the South Luangwa Conservation Society.